Wheel-mill



E. E. SLICK.

WHEEL MILL.

I APPLICATlON FILED DEC. 26, I916.

Patented Jan. 13, 1920.

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ATTORNE E. E. SLICK.

WHEEL MILL.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 26'. 1916.

1,327, 35, Patented Jan. 13,1920.

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UNITED STATES PATENT ormon.

EDWIN E. SLICK, OF WES'IMONT BOROUGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

WHEEL-MILL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 13, 1920.

Application filed December 26, 1918. Serial No. 138,741.

My invention relates to a' wheel mill adapted to roll or form metal wheels, gear,

blanks, pulleys, fiy-wheels, or other generally circular metal bodiesu I provide a air of web rolls adapted to reduce the thickness of the web of the wheel blanks, and increase the diameter and circumference thereof while, at the same time, forcing material against the tread roll, which, as it revolves, also forms the tread and flange portion of a car wheel. At the same time I provide rim rolls which act on the edge of the rim tomake and maintain it of proper size durother rolled article.

ing the operation of the web rolls and tread roll. In order to simplify the mechanism and at the same time make it exact and well adapted to erform its work, I mount the web rolls, t eir shafts and driving mechanism consisting, preferably, of a rime mover 'comprislng an electric. motor and gearing, upon a base plate which, is pivoted to a bed plate, whereby all the parts mentioned may rotate or partially rotate in preferably a horizontal plane to bring theweb rolls to or retract them from the work.- By this means I obviate the use of universal jpmts, or similar connections, from the driving mechanism to'the web rolls by mounting the prime mover on the movable base plate with each web roll, and thereby simthe construction and make the same more exact and easily adjustable.

In order to move the web rolls to and from their, work, *as above mentioned, I connect the forward bearing of .the same by means of a link or pitman to a screw of large size fitted with a nut, which nut is adapted to be revolved, thereby projecting the rolls into their work or retracting the same therefromin order to withdraw tl16 wheel, or I While the wheel, or other article, is thus being formed, I can sup-' port it on suitably disposed rollers, or,-1f

provided with a bore, 1 insert therein anarbor or mandrel which may be supported on suitable guides adapted to allow rota-. tion and horizontafmovement of the wheel or other body, while presenting its wveb to the web rolls and its tread to the tread roll. I also provide rim rolls 'which are adapted to be projected toward each other against the rim portion to form and maintain the rim dimensions The web rolls are preferably angularly disposed with relation to each other so that they work both upon the I web and, upon the inside of the rim and, atthe same time, force the tread firmly against the tread roll it also. I

, Having thus given a general description of my invention, I will now, in order to make the matter more clear,-refer to the annexed two sheets of drawings forming part of-thi's specification and in which like characters refer to like parts. Figure 1 is a general plan view, shOWing'sOme parts in horizontalcross -'section for clearness of illustration;

'i for the purpose of shaping Fig. 2 is a-frontelevation of substantially the left-hand half of the mill; Fig. 3 is a vertical cross sectional elevation taken on the axis of the web rolls and shaft thereof, showing the bed-plate, the base-plate and the pivoted connection between the two;

Referring to the characters of reference on the drawings :--1 are theweb 'rolls, 2 are roll-shafts formed separatel or integrally with the web rolls as may e desired, the shafts being mounted j in bearings as shown, each roll-shaftbeing in line and connected with its driving shaft 5 by means of the spindle; and the coupling boxes 3,

which are machine-fitted.togetherg to form tight joints to maintain each roll;-shaft .2

always in line with its driving shaft 5, thus obviating the useof any juniversztl JOlIltS between the driving sh ft and the web rolls. Each web roll 1 may e secured firmly on the shaft 2 by ke ing or otherwise, or may be preferably made as shown, integral with *gthe shaft 2. Each shaft 2 is mounted in separate bearings so as to withstand the pressures put upon the web roll when doing its work, and the shaft 2 is also preferably made separate from the driving shaft .5 and connected thereto by a separate spindle 4 and tight fitting coupllngs 3, as illustrated,

so that when it is desired to change the web rolls 1,.this maybe done without interfering with the drivingshaft 5 and its direct connections. This may be done by slipping the collar or coupling 3 along the spin dle 4 and removing the journal box covers of the sl1aft'2 and then removing the web roll and its shaft. A new one can then be replaced by a reverse operation.

I wish it understood, however, that one of the particular features of my invention resides in maintaining the driving shaft 5 in line with the web roll shaft 2, thus obviating the use of any loose or universal joints and making com-pact construction, and this I accomplish by pivoting the bed plate so that the web rolls 1 can be moved to and from their work by rotating the base plate 9 on the bed plate. Each driving shaft 5 is mounted in bearings as shown, and provided with a driving spur wheel 6 mounted on and secured to the drive shaft 5; 7 is the driving pinion mounted on the shaft of each prime mover, indicated as an electric motor 8 and driven thereby for the purpose of driving the shafts 5 and the web rolls 1.

9 are base-plates on which are mounted the various parts shown, and each of which is provided with a pivot pin 10, which secures it to the fixed bed-plate 11 and adapts it and all its attachments to rotate thereon. The fixed bed-plate'll is provided with slides or wearing plates 12, on which the baseplates-9 are adapted to move. 13 are links or pitmans connected to the forward .bearings of the web rolls, and 15 are screws provided with square ends 14, pivotally connected to the links 13 as shown, these square ends being each mounted in guide-ways to prevent the rotation of the screw, but allowing it to move longitudinally backward and forward and thus advance the web rolls to or retract them from the work. Mounted on each screw 15 is a nut 16, while 17 is a helical gear wheel mounted on the nut '16 for the purpose of rotating it in either direction as may be desired, and 18 are helical pinions mounted on the shaft 19. 20 is an'electric motor adapted to drive the shaft 19 and the pinions 18 in either direction by means of the gearing shown. The rotation of the motor 20 in one direction will advance the screws 15 and project the web rolls against the work, while the rotation of the motor in the other direction will retract the same. 21 is a tread roll, 22 is the crosshead in which the tread roll is rotatably mounted, as shown, 23 are guides secured-to the fixed bed plate 11 and adapted to support and guide the cross-head in its forward and backward movement. Secured to the cross-head is the screw 24; 25 is a nut fitting on the said screw, 26 is a gear wheel secured to and. mounted on the nut 25, 27 is .a motor adapted to'rotate the gear wheel 26 and nut 25 in either direction as desired by means of the connections shown.

in the wheel bore, 29 indicates the metal wheel generally, 30 is the web of the wheel,

31 is the wheel hub,provided with the bore as shown, 32 are guides between which the arbor rests and is supported from-moving in a. vertical direction but allowed to rotate or move backward or forward in a horizontal direction, 33 aierim ro'lls adapted to operate on the sides of the rim of-a car wheel as illustrated, 3i are crossheads in,

ed to rotate in either direction as desired to project or retract the screw, 38 is a gear wheel mounted-on the nut and adapted to be driven in either direction by the pinion 39, 40 is a motor adapted to rotate the pinions 39 in either direction and thereby rotate the nuts for projecting or retracting the screws 36 and the attached rim rolls, 41 is a hand wheel mounted on the shaft as illustrated and provided with a clutch 42, whereby the rim rolls may be moved toward or from the work manually if desired instead of by the motor 40.

It will be noted that I provide a general bed or bed-plate for-supporting the various portions of my wheel mill and the driving and adjusting mechanismsthereof, but supplementary to the general bed .I also provide other and movable base plates which are mounted on the bed or bed-plate aforesaid, and. on these movable base plates I mount the web rolls, their direct appurtenames and driving mechanism; the driving mechanism in this case being shown as a prime mover comprising an electric motor.

The power may be connected to these motors by means of a flexible cable which allows the ready movement of the base plates while maintaining the power connection.

Although I have illustrated the web rolls as mounted upon bed plates, each proipided with a pivot, I wish; it understood thatmyinvention relates broadly to mounting each of the web rolls ona' movable base plate and this may either bepivoted or may slide or to or from its work-is accomplished by means of a separate motor and mechanism, and the adjustment of the rim rolls to or from their work is performed by another separate motor and connecting mechanism.- The motion of the movable base plates carrying the web rolls is accomplished by another separate 13o 1 and leave a considerable space between thesame. A wheel blank, provided with an arbor 28 located in the bore thereof, is now inserted in position so that its web is between the web rolls and it is supported by means of the arbor which rests upon and between the guides 32. The gear wheels 17 are then rotated in clock-wise direction to any extent desired, whereby the web rolls 1' are projected against the wheel web on each side thereof, and pinch the same between said rolls, which rolls are revolved in opposite directions by means of. the prime mover motors 8 and their connections. As the rolling proceeds, the webrolls are gradually pushed together to produce a web of proper thickness by slightly rotating the gear wheels 17 in the right direction, which, in turn, projects the screws 15 forward, these screws being connected to the bearings of the web rolls by means of the pivoted links 13. As this is being done, the inner surfaces of the web rolls also work on the nner surfaces of the rim and force the tread against the tread roll 21, which forms the tread asthe wheel-blank or wheel revolves. I may either set the tread roll in advance to the position desired to produce a wheel of right diameter, or by means of the motor roll forward against the t as desired, during the process of rolling. While this is being done the rim-roll 33 contact with the side surfaces of the rim and may. be set a suitable distance apart or may be forced against the rim, as desired,'by means of rotation of the motor 40 and its connections,

which rotates the gear wheels 38, which are mounted on the nuts 37 which, in connection with the screws 36', are adapted to project or retract the rim rolls as desired. After thisv is done, the various rolls may be withdrawn from contact with'the wheel so as to a low it to be removed and another blank put in its place, wl'iereuon the operation proceeds as before descri' ed. After the wheel is so formed, it may be put into. a press or be tween dies and the web formed to any shape or curvature desired, and the various parts. brought into their proper relations.

Although I have described and illustrated. my invention in considerable detail, I do not WlSh to be limited to the exact and specific details thereof as shown and described, but

may use such modifications in, substitutions for, or equivalents thereof, as are embraced within the scope of my invention, asvpointecl out in the claim.

Having thus described my invention, What I claimand desire to secure by Letters Patent is z- In a wheel mill, a web roll and a prime mover for driving the same, both mounted on a movable ba'se, whereb said web roll maiy be projectedto its wor a n testimony whereof I hereunto afiix my signature.

. EDWIN E. SLICK. 

